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MENARD-HODGES SITE Page 7
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
_______________________________________________________________
this later period constructed houses to the south of the large
mound to form a typical Mississippian Period ceremonial mound
center where the temple mound and houses are grouped around a
central plaza.
The Quapaw Indians were a Siouan-speaking people, whose oral
traditions, and material culture indicates they originated to the
north or northwest and moved into the area shortly before contact
with Europeans. Ford, however, believes that this is "most
unlikely, for the [Quapaw] culture is basically of the local
Mississippian pattern" (1961:182). He indicated that "...when
the degree of resemblance to the cultures of the Memphis and St.
Francis [River Valley of Arkansas] areas is considered, the
southward movement recorded in the Quapaw legends may stem only
from those regions" (1961:182).
Historical Background: Henri de Tonty, who founded the Arkansas
Post, at the Quapaw Indian village of Osotouy, on the lower
Arkansas River, first came to the New World with his fur trading
partner Robert LaSalle and 30 other Frenchmen in the year 1678.
LaSalle and de Tonty had a royal commission to establish fur
trading posts in the Illinois River Valley and in other areas
they might discover (Sauer 1980:149). Interested in expanding
their fur trading empire LaSalle and de Tonty travelled down the
Mississippi River, reaching its mouth on April 9, 1682. Here
LaSalle christened the land Louisiana, which he claimed for the
French king (Sauer 1980:150).
While de Tonty established a fur trading post of Fort Saint
Louis, at Starved Rock, Illinois, LaSalle returned to France in
1683. LaSalle hoped to get royal permission to establish a town
at the mouth of the Mississippi as an anchor to extend French
control throughout the Mississippi up through Canada. LaSalle
hoped that a colony on the Mississippi would allow him to attack
Spanish possessions in a manner similar to the French colony on
Hispaniola that preyed on Spanish treasure ships (Sauer 1980:156-
159) .
By the following year (1686) de Tonty travelled to the mouth of
the Mississippi River in an unsuccessful attempt to find LaSalle,
who was to establish a base near Galveston, Texas. On the return
trip to Illinois, de Tonty left six of his men in the charge of
Jean Couture to establish a small trading post at Osotouy, a
Quapaw village (Ford 1961:137). On his third attempt to reach
the Mississippi, in 1687, from his base in Texas, LaSalle was
killed by members of his expedition. Seven members of the
LaSalle party continued on until they reached the south bank of
the Arkansas River where they found the Arkansas Post built by
Couture the previous year. One of the LaSalle party, Henri
Joutel, would continue up the Mississippi to the Great Lakes and
back to France via Canada where he wrote an account of the
LaSalle expedition. Joutel's description of the Arkansas Post is
the key to the argument that the Menard-Hodges Site is the Quapaw
village of Osotouy.

MENARD-HODGES SITE Page 7
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
_______________________________________________________________
this later period constructed houses to the south of the large
mound to form a typical Mississippian Period ceremonial mound
center where the temple mound and houses are grouped around a
central plaza.
The Quapaw Indians were a Siouan-speaking people, whose oral
traditions, and material culture indicates they originated to the
north or northwest and moved into the area shortly before contact
with Europeans. Ford, however, believes that this is "most
unlikely, for the [Quapaw] culture is basically of the local
Mississippian pattern" (1961:182). He indicated that "...when
the degree of resemblance to the cultures of the Memphis and St.
Francis [River Valley of Arkansas] areas is considered, the
southward movement recorded in the Quapaw legends may stem only
from those regions" (1961:182).
Historical Background: Henri de Tonty, who founded the Arkansas
Post, at the Quapaw Indian village of Osotouy, on the lower
Arkansas River, first came to the New World with his fur trading
partner Robert LaSalle and 30 other Frenchmen in the year 1678.
LaSalle and de Tonty had a royal commission to establish fur
trading posts in the Illinois River Valley and in other areas
they might discover (Sauer 1980:149). Interested in expanding
their fur trading empire LaSalle and de Tonty travelled down the
Mississippi River, reaching its mouth on April 9, 1682. Here
LaSalle christened the land Louisiana, which he claimed for the
French king (Sauer 1980:150).
While de Tonty established a fur trading post of Fort Saint
Louis, at Starved Rock, Illinois, LaSalle returned to France in
1683. LaSalle hoped to get royal permission to establish a town
at the mouth of the Mississippi as an anchor to extend French
control throughout the Mississippi up through Canada. LaSalle
hoped that a colony on the Mississippi would allow him to attack
Spanish possessions in a manner similar to the French colony on
Hispaniola that preyed on Spanish treasure ships (Sauer 1980:156-
159) .
By the following year (1686) de Tonty travelled to the mouth of
the Mississippi River in an unsuccessful attempt to find LaSalle,
who was to establish a base near Galveston, Texas. On the return
trip to Illinois, de Tonty left six of his men in the charge of
Jean Couture to establish a small trading post at Osotouy, a
Quapaw village (Ford 1961:137). On his third attempt to reach
the Mississippi, in 1687, from his base in Texas, LaSalle was
killed by members of his expedition. Seven members of the
LaSalle party continued on until they reached the south bank of
the Arkansas River where they found the Arkansas Post built by
Couture the previous year. One of the LaSalle party, Henri
Joutel, would continue up the Mississippi to the Great Lakes and
back to France via Canada where he wrote an account of the
LaSalle expedition. Joutel's description of the Arkansas Post is
the key to the argument that the Menard-Hodges Site is the Quapaw
village of Osotouy.